Want to move to Spain?

Want to move to Spain? Here’s how to cut your tax bill and dodge red tape

Expat life is tricky and expensive – particularly for retirees. But there are ways to smooth the way to that dream life.

 

The obstacles of Brexit and then Covid have not stopped the British buying homes in Spain. Affordable property, seemingly endless days of guaranteed sunshine and lower living costs seem more important to buyers than ever.

For three months at the end of last year, Britons lost their long-held position as the most prolific group of foreign buyers – to Germans – but they are now back on top. According to the Spanish land registry, in the first quarter of 2022, British people bought the most number of properties since 2018.

This trend is likely to continue. Rightmove, the property website, reported that the number of buyers enquiring about Spanish properties is up 36pc on the same period last year.

Three areas in Andalusia were the most in demand: Islantilla on the Costa de la Luz, to the west of Gibraltar, Marbella, and the coastal resort of Vera in Almeria.

Developer Taylor Wimpey Espana, said: “We are selling new properties too quickly [to build them], despite having to put up prices due to steep increases in the price of building materials.”

Nearly half of the current home hunters are looking to move to Spain full-time – a process that has required a visa since January 2021. “Golden visas” are available to those spending €500,000 (£433,643) on a property, and these have made up around a tenth of British applications according to My Lawyer in Spain. Most of those buyers have headed to Mallorca.

The rest of their applications are for the Non-Lucrative Visa, which is designed for those not working in Spain – mainly retirees; they mostly move to either the Costa Blanca or the Costa del Sol.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tax/tax-hacks/want-move-spain-cut-tax-bill-dodge-red-tape/